Boston Light Swim 2018

gregocgregoc Charter Member
edited August 2018 in Event Announcements

Don't forget! The sign up for the BLS lottery closes at 1:00 on March 14th. That is this Wednesday! Use the below link to sign up for the 2018 BLS lottery starting on March 1st and closing on the 14th.
https://www.massowsa.org/swimmer-lottery/

Tagged:
AnthonyMcCarleyJSwimssthomasdpm50

Comments

  • dpm50dpm50 PA, U.S.Senior Member
    edited March 2018

    Best of success to all who get in! I'm passing this year. My mile speed wouldn't make the 37 minute cut-off for entries, and cash flow isn't a thing just now--although I do hope, for once, to finally join the Doty swim! :) I'm not writing off BLS indefinitely, though, b/c hope springs eternal and I still believe, despite my age, that I can improve. Have fun, everyone--great event, well-organized, definitely worth joining! Swim happy!

    Also....In case you don't make the BLS lottery, come down the Northeast Corridor and join this 8 miler!

    Or, even if you do get in, come down our way for a second helping of 8 miles! We'd love to have you! And you'll have a couple weeks to recover from BLS so no conflict!

  • emkhowleyemkhowley Boston, MACharter Member

    Last call for swimmer lottery entries to the 2018 Boston Light Swim to be held on August 11. We'll be shutting down lottery registration at 1 p.m. eastern today. If you want to swim this year, you have to enter the lottery, and that has to happen by 1 p.m. today. We'll randomly select the winners from the lottery and you'll be notified of your status tomorrow. Good luck!
    https://www.massowsa.org/swimmer-lottery/

    Karl_KingeryssthomasIronMike

    Stop me if you've heard this one...
    A grasshopper walks into a bar...
    https://elainekhowley.com/

  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member

    Do you have the swimmer list available? I checked the website, but couldn't see who got in.

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • emkhowleyemkhowley Boston, MACharter Member

    IronMike said:
    Do you have the swimmer list available? I checked the website, but couldn't see who got in.

    Solo swimmers have been posted. Relay info to come. https://www.massowsa.org/2018-swimmers/

    bluemermaid9gregoc

    Stop me if you've heard this one...
    A grasshopper walks into a bar...
    https://elainekhowley.com/

  • emkhowleyemkhowley Boston, MACharter Member

    Also, if anyone here is interested, we are still accepting entires for the volunteer lottery. Details here: https://www.massowsa.org/volunteer/

    IronMikegregoc

    Stop me if you've heard this one...
    A grasshopper walks into a bar...
    https://elainekhowley.com/

  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member

    emkhowley said:
    Also, if anyone here is interested, we are still accepting entires for the volunteer lottery. Details here: https://www.massowsa.org/volunteer/

    Timing just sucks for me this year. One week!!! Dammit.

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • dpm50dpm50 PA, U.S.Senior Member

    Wishing everyone success!

    bluemermaid9swimfreeordieBridget
  • Very happy that my entry has been accepted in the lottery :) Looking forward to my first shot at BLS. Good luck everyone!

    Bridget
  • minamina Newton, MAMember

    Just lined up my pilot, thanks to @bshipp - so excited!!

    Looking forward to training with others in the Boston area once the Harbor is warm enough (or really, anywhere outside, for that matter). Let me know if you might be interested.

    thelittlemerwookieswimfreeordie
  • evmoevmo SydneyAdmin

    Track the BLS today on https://track.rs/bostonlight

    IronMikegregoc
  • SwimNCSwimNC Charlotte Member

    For anyone considering it, BLS completely surpassed my expectations. Extremely well run event, outstanding scenery throughout the course, cool history and a great cold water test for those of us living in warmer climates.

    Based on my pilot’s readings, the water was 57 degrees at the start, eventually warming up to 64 by the finish. I know many of you find such temperatures pedestrian at best, but I really needed and appreciated the experience.

    BridgetJSwimswimfreeordiegregocdpm50evmo
  • BridgetBridget New York StateMember

    A fabulous event- a privilege to share the water with such amazing swimmers and support crews- many of whom are also swimmers showing their generosity to other swimmers. So welcoming!

    Greg offered encouragement before the lottery when I worried about being a bit close on time, since pulling 8 miles in under 5 hours in my lake is possible, but not 100% every time. He clued me in on the currents. When I got in after the lottery when someone else could not make it, Elaine was a pilot-finding-superhero, since I'm out of town. Kevin was brilliant, and I highly recommend him- although IronMike called dibs for next year, I think. ;)

    I have done lake swimming in the 55F range in November and May, but the lake has been in the 70s- so I was glad I was able to swim in the ocean off Rhode Island on Friday as a mini transition. The 57F Kevin read at the start was beyond shocking- and I JUMPED in- not my usual method. . . I'm one of those pokey to get wet types. ;) For anyone NOT blasé about chillier water, a few things helped me keep going- slowing down at the start to stay calm and remind myself that my skin would not feel like it was on fire forever. I remembered the video of Jaimie Monahan calmly swimming in Antarctica with a penguin in the background. I remembered a video of Lynne Cox swimming to Antarctica gleefully calling to her support crew, "I'm swimming to Antarctica!" with a smile on her face that was only slightly maniacal. :D When the water went up to 64F for a while, it was nearly soothing, but when I hit the 60F mark again, it was like slamming into a wall. Fortunately, the wall kept moving toward shore.

    Support crew- when you watch your swimmers, you are not just helping with food and water. I found great support by seeing the faces of Kevin and Mike, even when they were just standing on the boat. For me, that flash of a human connection helps tremendously on a rough swim, and THIS, for ME, was a grueling, powerhouse of a swim that I am SO glad to have done. :D Thanks to everyone who made it happen, and with such great smiles.

    JSwimswimfreeordieDuganaddyIronMikegregocdpm50
  • DuganaddyDuganaddy Needham, MAMember

    I will happily third the kudos for the BLS and the organizers. You cannot beat the perspective and views of Boston that the swim offers filtered thru the Boston Habor islands. Living in the Boston area this feels like a local race ("...hey have you swum 'The Light'?"), but it a reminder of this swims' reach to see swimmers from other countries and from all over the US descend on the Boston harbor 'to swim The Light'. And it is such an odd coincidence that the home of the Boston Marathon also is home to the longest running marathon swim in the nation (world?). Strange siblings they are. Put it on your list of 'to do' swims for the future. It will not disappoint.
    Thank you @emkhowley and @gregoc for running such a great swim.

    BridgetswimfreeordieIronMikegregocevmossthomas
  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member
    edited August 2018

    It was an honor and pleasure to crew for @Bridget for BLS 2018. It was also an honor to meet so many wonderful swimmers, crew and volunteers. Special mention to all those who I've been reading in these forums but never met IRL: @emkhowley and her hubby Mark, @gregoc, @bluemermaid9, @Karl_Kingery, @Kellie, as well as meeting for the first time Bob McCormack and the incredibly modest Kim Garbarino. (Anyone who wants to read a great history of the BLS must get Bob's two books.)

    emkhowleygregocdpm50swimfreeordieevmobluemermaid9

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • emkhowleyemkhowley Boston, MACharter Member

    Thanks for coming to our pool party, all! Results have now been posted to our website. We'll be sending out an official wrap-up email today or tomorrow to all participants. In the meantime, I wanted to note two things. First,

    IronMike said:
    as well as meeting for the first time Bob MacDonald and the incredibly modest Kim Garbarino. (Anyone who wants to read a great history of the BLS must get Bob's two books.)

    That was actually Bob McCormack and here's the link to the first of his two-volume history of the Boston Light Swim. You can find a link to the second volume at the bottom of the page. (He's also written a book about swimming Alcatraz and one about Jim Doty.) He's done some incredible, next-level research into the murky early history of this event. He also set a record on Saturday as being the oldest swimmer to ever participate in the event (so far as our records permit us to know) when he swam with relay Team Gratitude at age 80.

    Finishing just a few minutes before Team Gratitude was another event record-setter, Ellis Merschoff of Pasadena MD, who at age 68 became our oldest ever solo swimmer in an admirable time of 4:23:42. The record he broke was set in 2005 by none other than Bob McCormack.

    Congratulations to all swimmers and thanks to our helpers, volunteers, sponsors and pilots. This event can't happen without a lot of effort from a lot of really dedicated people. It was a rainy, challenging day for those on the beach and in the support boats, so swimmers, make sure you're extra nice to your crew for the next few days. They deserve it.

    gregocBridgetdpm50evmobluemermaid9Ellis

    Stop me if you've heard this one...
    A grasshopper walks into a bar...
    https://elainekhowley.com/

  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member

    emkhowley said:
    ...I wanted to note two things. First,

    IronMike said:
    as well as meeting for the first time Bob MacDonald and the incredibly modest Kim Garbarino. (Anyone who wants to read a great history of the BLS must get Bob's two books.)

    That was actually Bob McCormack and here's the link to the first of his two-volume history of the Boston Light Swim. You can find a link to the second volume at the bottom of the page. (He's also written a book about swimming Alcatraz and one about Jim Doty.) He's done some incredible, next-level research into the murky early history of this event. He also set a record on Saturday as being the oldest swimmer to ever participate in the event (so far as our records permit us to know) when he swam with relay Team Gratitude at age 80.

    That's what I get for posting from memory! Post updated.

    Bridgetdpm50

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • BridgetBridget New York StateMember

    One thought while reading @IronMike's post- Many swimmers from the forum were there- When I went to commencement after my online MBA, I stuck a nametag on my gown saying, "Hi- I'm Simpsob- do I look like my student ID?" So people from my class fora could recognize me. :) Maybe name tags could include our forum IDs? :) Just a thought. For those who aren't living incognito.

    gregocIronMikedpm50kejoyceswimfreeordie
  • dpm50dpm50 PA, U.S.Senior Member
    edited August 2018

    So glad to hear this! As a past relay participant, I had a wonderful experience and happily recommend this swim to others. I don't know that my pace (which seems mysteriously -- ;) -- to slow down as years pass) would be good for a solo swim, but I hope I can get back as a relay swimmer one day. I'll be 68 in Nov. so maybe wait another year, work on getting fast enough to solo, and then break a record in 2020 at 69. :) But records aren't why I swim. I swim to enjoy the water and challenge myself. And BLS offers both the enjoyment and challenge.

    Bridgetswimfreeordie
  • Another vote of thanks and appreciation for Greg and Elaine and everyone who makes BLS possible. I had a great time in no small part thanks to the indispensable support of my (very experienced and unflappable) crew, who is a swim buddy and good friend of many years, and a super pilot who I was introduced to by swimmers in past races. It was great to meet many of you who were there, but sadly I was not able to hang out for the post race beer and meet moreof you. Good luck with your upcoming adventures and I look forward to seeing you at future events. I was relieved to get through my first significant cool water challenge and I'm encouraged to move on to more of them. Also another thank you to everyone who shares their experience and expertise in this forum, which has been very helpful to me.

    evmogregocssthomasdpm50IronMikebluemermaid9Bridget
  • EllisEllis Baltimore, MarylandMember

    Elaine and Greg ran a wonderful race. With water temperatures in the high 50s at the start to low 60s at the finish, it was a real cold water swimming confidence builder for me. Additionally, the course markers are islands, so they are easy to see and never get dragged by the current. I was pretty sure I was the oldest person in this year's race, but when Elaine told me I was the oldest ever to successfully complete the course, that was a pretty special moment for me, tempered somewhat by Bob McCormack (the person whose record I broke) still swimming on the winning relay at age 80. Bob's my new role model, time to go buy his books!

    gregocdpm50Bridgetswimfreeordiebluemermaid9IronMikeJSwimCamillejosbourne
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